Phillies give Sox a taste of own medicine

Phillies 8, Sox 2
WP: Hammels (7-4)
LP: Colon (4-2)
SV: None
HRs: BOS-Pedroia (6), Drew (12); PHI-Howard, 2 (19), Rollins (6)

SUMMARY:
Coming off a series in which Boston hit six homers and scored 16 runs the Phillies turned the tables on them tonight, slamming a double, two triples and three home runs among their 12 hits in routing Bartolo Colon and the Sox.

#1 STUNNER(s): Ryan Howard & Jimmy Rollins 6-10, 4R, 7BI, 3B, 3HR
Philly's leadoff hitter and super slugger tag-teamed the Sox right from the get-go as Rollins hit a homer to lead off the game, Ryan followed with a two-run blast minutes later and both of them did damage later in the game as well.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Mike Timlin 2/3IP, 4H, 4ER, 2BB, 0K, 22P
Why Tito brought Tired Arm into a game that was still winnable (4-2) in the 6th inning when David Aardsma was ready and willing to enter the game is a question the Nation will ponder for days to come.

This latest awful outing pushed the ancient reliever's ERA over 7.00. Please, for the love of God, either make him retire or DFA this fossil NOW.

RECAP:
I, like most of RSN, had a bad feeling about this series, and this opening game in particular, before it even started.

It didn't take long for Philly to prove us cynics right.

The Red Sox got chewed up and spit out by the offensive juggernaut that is the first place Philadelphia Phillies tonight at Citizens Bank Park, and they wasted little time in flexing the muscle that has allowed them to score 20 runs not once but twice this season.

Philly scored three runs before they had two outs on a pair of first inning homers, and things got so bad for Boston that 260-lb Ryan Howard and cement-footed Pat Burrell both legged out triples before the night was through.

How good is this offense?

Put it this way - their second baseman, Chase Utley, is leading the majors in homers and is second in the NL in RBI and he went 0-5 tonight (with an RBI) and they still scored 8 runs.

That's how good they are.

Tonight's starting pitcher, Cole Hammels, went 1-3 with a single to raise his average to .316 (12-38).

That's how good they are.

With his four ribbies this evening Howard tied teammate Utley for the NL RBI lead with 62, despite the fact that he's only hitting .225.

That's how...well you get the point.

It was apparent right from the start that Colon did not have the same kind of stuff he had in his four previous starts this season when his first pitch to Rollins missed outside badly, and when he put the next one over the plate the reigning NL MVP crushed a fastball off the facade of the upper deck in right for a quick 1-0 Philly lead.

Two pitches later Shane Victorino (2-4, 2B, BB, R) roped a double to deep right center and after Colon got Utley to strike out, Howard hit a 1-0 offering from Bart just over the wall and into the first row of seats in left to give Philly a 3-0 lead before everyone's seats were even warm.

Hammels (7IP, 7H, 2ER, 2BB, 5K, 2HR, 110P), meanwhile, kept the Boston batters at bay, escaping jams in the first when he struck out Drew and Manny after Pedroia had doubled with one out, and in the second when he whiffed Colon after Sean Casey (2-4)doubled and Julio Lugo walked with two out.

Colon escaped a two on, two out jam of his own in the bottom of the second when he got Utley to pop out to Casey at first, but he got burned by Howard again in the third when the beefy first baseman hit a 2-1 pitch to the opposite field again, this time making it as far as the third row of bleachers for his second longball of the game and 19th of the season.

He now trails teammate Utley by just three for the league lead in that department.

That's how good...alright, enough of that.

Trailing 4-zip Boston finally cracked the Hammels puzzle when Pedroia (3-4, R, BI, 2B, HR) and Drew hit back-to-back jacks with one out in the fifth, Drew's eighth of the month and sixth in the last nine games and Pedroia's second in two days, and with the lead sliced in half at 4-2 it looked like the Sox could possibly mount a comeback if they could get Hammels out of the game.

Instead it was Colon who exited the game after tossing a 1-2-3 inning in the fourth, reportedly due to a back issue, and that's when things got away from the comeback kings.

After Javier Lopez worked around a two out triple to Burrell (2-2, 2BB) to notch a scoreless fifth, Tito inexplicably brought in Timlin to pitch the sixth with the game up for grabs and Aardsma ready in the pen.

Talk about a move that came back to bite someone in the nads.

Timlin went out and tossed his BP fastball to the salivating Philly hitters, and they hammered him like soldiers home on shore leave. Here's a transcript of the destruction of a comeback chance:

-Pedro Feliz walks on 4 pitches
-Carlos Ruiz (who!?) singles to left on 2-1 count
-Hammels sacrifices both runners over
-Rollins hits 2-RBI single to right center, 6-2 Philly
-Victorino singles, Rollins to third
-Utley grounds into fielder's choice, Rollins scores, 7-2 Philly
(here's where Tito might have wanted to remove Tired Arm, preferably with deadly force, if necessary. But no...)
-Howard triples to deep right center on first pitch, Utley scores, 8-2 Philly, game over, Timlin's career officially over as well.

Okay I made that last part up, but one can dream, right?

Things got so bad for Boston that Francona brought in fellow frazzled reliever Hideki Okajima to pitch the 8th inning of an 8-2 ballgame, hoping he'll work out his kinks in a laugher instead of a save situation.

Good news is he pitched a clean inning and even struck out Howard to cap it off.

Bad news is our top setup man and one of the best in the league last year is pitching meaningless innings in blowouts to get his confidence back because lately he has sucked worse than Speed Racer.

Tomorrow night Boston will get a chance to put this ugly loss behind them and even the series at one with Jon Lester on the mound.

Sure the kid will be opposed by 237 game winner Jamie Moyer.

But he's only batting .167.

RECORD: 44-29
AL EAST: Up 2 gms
STREAK: L1
LAST 10: 6-4
UP NEXT: Tue vs. PHI 7:05 Lester vs. Moyer

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Oki blows another game against Baltimore as Sox lose at home

Orioles 10, Sox 6
WP: Sarfate (4-1)
LP: Okajima (1-2)
SV: None
HRs: BOS- Drew (9), Manny (15); BAL-None

SUMMARY:
Despite back-to-back home runs by the team's two hottest hitters and a gritty effort from Josh Beckett Boston dropped its second straight game to Baltimore when Hideki Okajima allowed three runs in the 7th inning, leading to the Sox sixth home loss of the year.

#1 STUNNER: Audrey Huff 4-5, 1R, 2BI
The guy may be an aggravating, arrogant, overrated and overpaid douchebag but he was the difference tonight as it was his 7th inning single that drove in two runs to tie the game and propel the O's to the win.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Okajima 1/3IP, 2H, 3ER, 2BB, 1K, 26P
In his last two outings against the Birds Oki has allowed 6 hits, 3 walks and 7 earned runs in one full inning of work for an ERA of 63.00 and a WHIP of 9.00. Wow.

RECAP:
Maybe it's these damn 6:00 starts that are throwing everything out of whack for the Sox.

Last time it happened a benches-clearing brawl erupted, resulting in the suspension of eight players, and a couple of Boston teammates got into a slap fight on the bench.

Tonight the Sox and O's played "I want the lead, no you take it" for six innings before Baltimore pulled away for good with a pair of three run innings late.

The funniest thing, and by funny I mean absolutely asinine, is that the start times have been moved up an hour to accommodate Celtics fans who don't want to miss any of the NBA Finals games, yet the two six o'clock contests have had run times of 3 hours, 40 minutes and 3 hours, 27 minutes.

So much for that theory.

After the debacle of the first game and the meltdown of the second I say to hell with this experiment. Start the games at the normal time and just put the Sox on the PIP until its over.

And if a brawl breaks out flip it back, or if a Boston reliever melts down flick it off.

Things started out bad for Boston tonight, got worse, then cleared up for a while before a black cloud covered the park in the form of another blown save for Hideki Okajima.

To make matters worse the Celts tantalized us with a potential upset win in Game 4, only to have King Kobe and Co. hag on for a series-saving win.

Talk about a double whammy of doom.

The way the game started it looked like the Sox would cruise to another easy home win. Boston loaded the bases in the first inning before Daniel Cabrera had recorded an out on a single by Jacoby Ellsbury, a double by Dustin Pedroia and a walk to red-hot J.D. Drew.

But Cabrera (5IP, 7H, 6ER, 4BB, 3K, 2HR, 94P) escaped a potential devastating inning when he got Manny Ramirez to ground into a double play, and even though Ellsbury came in to score the damage could have - and should have - been much worse.

The missed opportunity came back to bite Boston in the ass shortly thereafter when Josh Beckett (6IP, 8H, 4ER, 1BB, 3K, 114P) gave up a four-spot to the Birds in the second inning.

After retiring Audrey Huff for the first out (and the only time on the night) Becks allowed a Monster double to original idiot Kevin Millah and then walked new nemesis Luke Scott.

As if that weren't bad enough Beckett then plunked .200-hitting catcher Ramon Hernandez (1-4, R, 2BI) to load the bases, but it appeared he would escape the inning unscathed when he got Adam Jones, the hero of Baltimore's last win over Boston, to pop out to first for the second out of the inning.

Ah, no.

Fellow Mendoza dweller Freddie Bynum promptly stroked an 0-1 offering from Beckett
off the Monster for a shocking 2-out, 2-run double, but unfortunately the hurt didn't end there. Five pitches later Brian Roberts launched another Wall-scraper to score Hernandez and Bynum, and Baltimore had a 4-1 lead on three doubles, a walk and a HBP.

Ugh.

The bottom of the second was eerily similar to the first as Boston got the first two batters on base before a double play killed what could have been a potential rally, but things turned around in the third when the Sox plated a pair of runs to climb right back in it.

Pedroia (2-3, 2R, HBP), who had been mired in a horrid 4-37 slump, started it off with a single to left for his second hit in two at bats, and after Cabrera wild pitched him to second JD drew his second walk of the game. After a single to center by Manny loaded the bases RBI groundouts by Mike Lowell and Kevin Youkilis cut the Orioles lead to 4-3.

Then the fireworks came in the fifth inning.

Once again Pedroia started the rally when Cabrera hit him with a pitch on the elbow on a 3-2 count, and on the very next pitch Drew (1-2, 2R, 2BI, 2BB) exacted some payback for his teammate when he crushed a fastball over the bullpens for a 2-run homer that gave the Sox a 5-4 lead.

Before the celebrating over Drew's 5th homer in his last nine games had ended Manny Ramirez, who clubbed three longballs in three games against the O's in Baltimore last series, obliterated a another fastball from Cabrera for home run #15 on the season and 505 of his career, and just like that Boston had a 6-4 lead despite Beckett's troubles and their own missed chances.

Ironically, on a night when Manny was honored for joining the 500 club by guys such as Eddie Murray, who joined Rem Dog and Don O in the booth in the previous inning, Manny passed the former Oriole great on the all-time home run list.

Pretty cool.

Unfortunately that would be the end of the good times for Boston; Beckett tossed one more inning before he was replaced in the 7th by Okajima after throwing 113 pitches on the night.

And it quickly became hide the women and children time.

A one-out walk by Roberts (1-4, 1R, 2BI) seemed harmless enough at the time, but that was followed by another Wall double, this time by Nick Markakis, and when Melvin Mora walked on a 3-1 count to load the bases it was lump in the throat time for the Faithful.

The lump came up when Huff slapped a single into right to score Roberts and Markakis and tie the game at six, and then the horrible horrible sense of deja vu was complete going back to the last time Oki pitched against the Os.

And we all remember that game.

Manny Delcarmen came in to relive a discouraged Oki and immediately allowed a sac fly to Millar (1-4, R, BI) to give Baltimore the lead back aat 7-6, and even though Manny D got out of the inning the damage was done, both to the score and Oki's psyche.

My question is why bring him in in the 7th when that inning has been the domain of Lopez, Delcarmen and Hansen in the first place, something I'm sure Tito will be second-guessed about for a few days to come?

Boston had a chance to tie the game up in the 8th but yet another double play quelled that chance, and then Hansen crushed all hopes of a comeback when he allowed three runs in the 9th, although an error by Pedroia on a potential double play grounder was a key factor in the late uprising.

No matter because this one was lost as soon as Oki stepped on the field, and my guess is Tito will throw him right back out there tomorrow so so he can get this orange and black monkey off his back.

Thank god there's no Celtics game tomorrow.

RECORD: 40-27
AL EAST: Up 1 gm
STREAK: L1
LAST 10: 7-3
UP NEXT: Wed vs. BAL 7:05 Olson vs. Colon

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Sox streak hits five as Wake handcuffs Tigers

Sox 5, Tigers 0
WP: Wakefield (3-1)
LP: Robertson (1-4)
SV: None
HRs: BOS- Ortiz (7), Manny (7); DET- None (obviously)

SUMMARY:
Tim Wakefield had one of the best outings by a Boston starter this year, holding Detroit to 2 hits over 8 innings while retiring 17 straight batters at one point, and Papi & Manny went back-to-back as the Sox won its second straight game in Motown and 5th straight overall.

SUPERSTAR: Wakefield 8IP, 2H, 0ER, 0BB, 6K, 98P
The best part about wake's performance tonight? NO WALKS!

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Gary Sheffield 0-3, 2K
The surly, slumping slugger, who was dropped from 3rd to 6th in the lineup yesterday, fanned twice tonight, dropping his average to a paltry .178. He has 2 homers and 5RBI this season, well worth the $13 mil he's making, dontcha think?

RECAP:
I missed most of this one due to a LL game (my son pitched a complete game in a must-win contest, BTW) and I DVR'd the Celts game instead, thinking it would only be in the third inning by the time I got home anyway.

Who knew Wakefield would decide to mix in a fastball and curve with his slower than snowfall knuckler, the combination of which baffled the Detroit hitters and helped bring this game in at an NL-like 2 hours and 21 minutes.

By the time I got home at around 8:20 the game was in the top of the 6th inning - at 8:20! - and Boston had already jumped out to yet another early (3-0) lead.

That's what I get for assuming again.

From what I gathered though exhaustive research (i.e. GameCast & SportsCenter), the Sox scored all three runs in the 2nd inning off Detroit starter Nate Robertson (6.1IP, 10H, 4ER, 2BB, 4K, 2HR) when the first four batters of the inning reached base, a nice trend the team brought with them from the Rays series.

After Mike Lowell walked to lead off the frame, Kevin Youkilis doubled him over to third, and then JD Drew followed with an RBI single and Kevin Cash (3-4, BI) drove in Youk with another double to make it 2-0 before an out was recorded in the inning.

Julio Lugo killed the big inning with a flyout, and the only other run they managed to score came in on a groundout by Coco Crisp, but as it turned out three runs would be more than enough for Wake.

It's a good thing, too, because Boston blew a few more scoring opportunities after that. The Sox got two men on in both the 3rd and 4th innings and the leadoff man on in the 5th but couldn't get another run home off bend-but-don't-break Robertson, but with Wakefield mowing down the Tigers like a brand new John Deere, it hardly mattered.

Fast forward to the 6th inning, when I came in, and the Sox again got the leadoff man aboard when Cash, who had his second 3-hit game in his last three starts, got a single past Rentanerror at short, but good old Lugo K'd and Coco grounded into a DP to squelch another potential threat.

But in the 7th inning the big boppers struck, and boy was I glad I got home in time to see it live.

First Ortiz, who is finally coming out of his slump despite the gimpy knee, sledgehammered a Robertson pitch high and deep into the right field seats for a titanic blast that pushed Boston's lead to 4-0 and got the Tigers starter removed from the game.

No matter, because Smoky Jim Leyland foolishly brought in a kid named Freddy Dolsi to make his major league debut against Manny Ramirez; I could almost smell how he felt about that decision from my living room.

ManRam promptly welcomed Freddy to the big leagues the only way he knows how, by turning on his first ever MLB pitch and depositing it into the foliage some 420+ feet away from home plate for a demoralizing back-to-back jack that was the final nail in the Tigers coffin on the evening.

It was the 47th time Papi & Manny have homered in the same game.

From there it was merely a formality that Boston would take the win, and not even Wakefield allowing his 2nd hit of the night, a double by Pudge Rodriguez in the 8th, not the return of Tired Arm Timlin to the mound could derail that train.

Indeed the Sox did nail this one down and have now ripped off another five game winning streak, and with two more to play against the clueless Tigers, that number could reach seven by the time they head to Minneapolis to play the surprising Twins this weekend.

I'll be sure to set the DVR for those games.

RECORD: 22-13
AL EAST: Up 3.5 gms
STREAK: W5
LAST 10: 7-3
UP NEXT: Wed @ DET Buchholz vs. Galarraga

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